Monday, June 23, 2008

Diary of a Goldwinger Part 8 - Spain 2008

June the 10th saw Lorna and I setting off to Lloret De Mar to attend the 15th Anniversary Treffen with the GWAE, just a short trip of approx 6 hrs.

Because the weather had been so bad here we decided not take the trailer and camping kit, we booked a mobile home at the camping site.

The trip up saw us hitting very heavy rain around Valencia and caused us to pull over for a coffee to give it a chance to ease off.

Due to the lorry drivers strike the motorway was very quiet and because of the lack of lorries we did not get the spray that you normally get from the trucks.

We had arranged to meet our friends from England, Tony and Helen and their daughter Holly, they ride an 1800 outfit, in yellow it really is a beauty, with music , DVD and a microphone in the sidecar to keep holly amused on the long trip from Yorkshire.

We arrived on the campsite, booked in and were shown to our mobile, we then booked out due to the state of the place, it was disgusting and completely bare, you were supposed to hire everything from the campsite shop. Tony, Helen and Holly had arrived, they had booked a log cabin, they to booked out of their shed, as they called it, we then contacted Malc and Carol who had travelled down with Tony, Helen and Holly and were staying in a hotel just 5 minutes from the campsite, checked if the hotel had rooms, the end result being 6 nights in a very nice hotel for us all.

On the Thursday we rode down to the Treffen and inscribed, there was a lot of unhappy people there due to the state of the accommodation, the camping area was ok and a few tents were up or being erected.

Friday was the parade of nations , an area on the sea front had been dedicated as a Goldwing area with disco ect, as the 200ish goldwings left the campsite it started to rain and within 5 mins we were completely soaked, we rode down through the town and then straight back to the hotel to dry off, it was a bloody shame as the area was very nice right on the beach and would have been a perfect setting.

Saturday night was awards night, 17 countries were represented at the Treffen, GB won the attendance award with 32 bikes, furthest distance went to a rider from Sweden, numerous awards were handed out , 215 bikes attended, a beautiful white 1800 from Russia won the light show, see attached photo.

What a fantastic machine to see it fully lit up at night was unbelievable, like it not it must have taken hours and hours and is one of the best we have seen. We met up with some old friends over the week and enjoyed some great company, we did the beach thing with Holly and she, as always kept us amused, we went to a local marine world park and had a great day out.

All in all, another great time with some great people and some great bikes, I have heard that a new two litre is planned for September, so watch this space, ride safe and enjoy,